Tribute to Mothers: Zibby Owens

Basically, everything you want or need to know about me, you can tell by the title of whatever project I’m working on at the time, author Zibby Owens shared recently with Polo Lifestyles. “I just put it all out there.”

Owens really does put it all out there: her brand, “Moms Don’t Have Time To…,” covers topics from reading and traveling to having sex and losing weight. What started out as a podcast three years ago grew into appearances at book fairs, championing local libraries and hosting literary events. The podcast is now daily, she co-hosts a slew of other podcasts, including “Moms Don’t Have Time to Have Sex,” a Q&A set up with Tracy Cox (“I’m blushing the entire time,” Owens said) as well as contributing to the Washington Post, Good Morning America and editing “Moms Don’t Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology.” The latter, available on Amazon, features original essays from over 60 previous podcast guests.

Her family of six – her kids range from 14-year-old twins to the youngest who’s six – holed up in Long Island for the duration of the pandemic. She planned for two weeks; it’s been over a year.

“I knew on Day 1 that I needed to do something with the brand that would ultimately help authors, many of whom were in the middle of a book tour (when Covid-19 restrictions went into place),” Owens said. She brought more guests on the podcast, she expanded the topics, focused intensely on social media and addressed the fallout from lockdown in very personal ways.

“I noticed I had gained some weight, so we launched ‘Moms Don’t Have Time To Lose Weight,’ which is an exclusive private Instagram safe group space of 1,255 members for questions, concerns, successes and failures.

She maintains a sense of humor through it all, as well as a love of books, reading and libraries. She co-chairs the Library Council of the New York Public Library and the annual Library Lunch. She’s also sponsored Authors Night for the East Hampton Library and will be one of their featured authors this summer. She fully intends to pass on her love of writing, reading and books to her children. “The youngest ones still do story time with me,” she shared. “I’m working with the (14-year-old) twins to help them understand the joy and excitement that comes with opening a book, rather than the iPad.” Owens herself is most inclined to pick up memoirs and literary fiction pieces, so it’s no surprise that her next project will be a memoir. Life, for Owens, continues to mirror her art.

Reading with Zibby

A book you can reread over and over: “Slow Motion: A Memoir of a Life Rescued by Tragedy” by Dani Shapiro

The best book you’ve read recently: “When the Stars Go Dark” by Paula McClain